JP2005142683A - Apparatus and method for camera control - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically select a camera capable of photographing the front/back of a photographing object from among a plurality of cameras installed, and to photograph a plurality of photographing objects. <P>SOLUTION: A video image analyzer 103 calculates the moving directions of photographing object in a video image picked up with a plurality of cameras 110-1 to 110-n, and calculates where the photographing object is in a photographing area. A control camera selector 104 selects a camera capable of photographing the photographing object from its front on the basis of the information notified from the section 103, and notifies a camera control signal generator 105 of information about which camera should be controlled and the information about the present position of the photographing object. The section 105 generates a control signal for controlling the selected camera and transmits the generated signal via a camera control signal transmitter 106 and a network 120. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera control device and a camera control method for controlling a plurality of cameras.

  In recent years, with the deterioration of security, there are an increasing number of local communities that use a plurality of cameras to monitor specific areas such as shopping streets and streets for the purpose of preventing crimes and recording evidence video when crimes occur. In this way, when shooting and tracking a monitoring target such as a suspicious person using a plurality of cameras, the normal monitoring person selects one of the plurality of cameras and instructs the camera to indicate shooting directions such as up, down, left, and right. Control to instruct the zoom magnification and the like.

  However, since controlling a plurality of installed cameras one by one is a burdensome task for a supervisor, there is a conventional technique that can control a plurality of cameras simultaneously with a small number of operations (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining this conventional technique.

This prior art relates to a camera system composed of a plurality of cameras (1-1 to 1-4) whose photographing posture can be controlled from the outside. The operator 1-11 selects one camera from the cameras 1-1 to 1-4, and performs shooting and position measurement of the shooting target by manual control. Position measurement is performed using an autofocus (AF) function. The selected camera transmits the position information of the target to the remaining cameras and controls them so that a plurality of cameras can simultaneously photograph the same target.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-25003 (page 12, FIG. 1)

  However, for example, when the prior art is applied to a monitoring system, in order to photograph the front / rear surface of a monitoring target having a front / rear surface such as a person, the operator monitors the camera arrangement status. There is a problem that it is necessary to select a camera capable of photographing the front / rear surface of the target and manually operate the camera, which is complicated and burdens the operator.

  Further, the conventional technique has a problem in that when there are a plurality of shooting targets, all the cameras follow one shooting target, and thus other shooting targets cannot be shot.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can automatically select a camera that can shoot the front / rear surface of a shooting target from a plurality of cameras, and can select a plurality of shooting targets. It is an object to provide a camera control device and a camera control method capable of photographing.

  The camera control device of the present invention is a camera control device used in a camera system in which a shooting area is covered by a plurality of cameras, and the current position of the shooting target in the shooting area and the moving direction of the shooting target are determined. The detection means for detecting the current position and the moving direction of the shooting target are compared with the arrangement of the plurality of cameras, and a camera located in or near the moving direction of the shooting target is specified from the plurality of cameras. A configuration is provided that includes a specifying unit and a control unit that mainly uses the camera specified by the specifying unit and uses at least a part of another camera as a subordinate, and causes the main and subordinate cameras to shoot the shooting target.

  According to this configuration, even when a plurality of cameras are arranged, it is possible to perform shooting with an emphasis on the specified camera by specifying the camera located in the moving direction of the shooting target or in the vicinity thereof. This makes it easier to track the shooting target. In addition, since the video shot by the specified camera is data with a small image change amount, the communication data amount (traffic) can be reduced.

  The camera control device according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, and includes a calculation unit that calculates a range captured by the main camera and a camera that captures a range other than the range calculated by the calculation unit. And selecting means for selecting as a slave camera.

  According to this configuration, since it is possible to select a camera necessary for photographing a subject to be photographed without blind spots (from all directions), photographing can be performed with a minimum number of cameras.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically select a camera that can shoot the front / rear side of a shooting target from a plurality of cameras, and to shoot a plurality of shooting targets. Can do.

  The gist of the present invention is to identify a camera located on the extension of the moving direction of the shooting target based on a vector indicating the current position and moving direction of the shooting target and the geometrical arrangement of the plurality of cameras. The shooting of the shooting target is performed on the basis of the above.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, a case where the camera control device according to the present invention is applied to a monitoring system will be described as an example.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the monitoring system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The monitoring system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of cameras 110-1 to 110-n, a network 120 such as a LAN and the Internet, a camera control device 100 that transmits a signal for controlling the cameras 110-1 to 110-n, and It comprises a display (video display device) 130 that displays a plurality of videos received by the camera control device 100 or the shooting directions of the cameras 110-1 to 110-n. The camera control device 100 also includes a video reception unit 101, a video display unit 102, a video analysis unit 103, a control camera selection unit 104, a camera control signal generation unit 105, and a camera control signal transmission unit 106.

  Each part of the camera control apparatus 100 performs the following operations.

  The video receiving unit 101 receives videos taken by the plurality of cameras 110-1 to 110-n via the network 120 and outputs the video data to the video display unit 102. The video display unit 102 displays the video received by the video receiving unit 101 on the display 130.

  The video analysis unit 103 determines whether or not a person to be photographed (monitored) is reflected in the video received by the video receiver 101. If the person to be photographed is reflected, this person The moving direction of is calculated. The detection of the photographing target is performed by extracting the moved part in the video using the background difference. It should be noted that when the supervisor finds a photographing target that he / she wants to view in front while viewing the video screen, the photographing target may be instructed on the screen using an input device such as a mouse connected to the camera control device 100. Absent. The video analysis unit 103 calculates where the shooting target is in the monitoring area (positional information) from the detection result of the shooting target from the shooting direction of the camera and the position of the shooting target on the camera video. At this time, a technique called camera calibration capable of calculating camera parameters representing the position, orientation, angle of view, etc. of the camera in the three-dimensional space is used.

  The control camera selection unit 104 selects, from the cameras 110-1 to 110-n, a camera that can capture from the front the imaging target determined by the video analysis unit 103. This selection method will be described in detail later. Then, in order to actually control the selected camera, the control camera selection unit 104 relates to which camera to be controlled among the installed cameras, and the current position of the shooting target (the direction in which the camera should face). Information is transmitted to the camera control signal generation unit 105.

  The camera control signal generation unit 105 generates a control signal for controlling the shooting direction of the camera so that the camera selected by the control camera selection unit 104 can shoot the shooting target determined by the video analysis unit 103. The camera control signal transmission unit 106 transmits the control signal generated by the camera control signal generation unit 105 to the cameras 110-1 to 110-n connected to the network via the network 120. The cameras 110-1 to 110-n receive a control signal, rotate according to the control signal, and photograph a subject to be photographed.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on the screen 300 of the display 130. Here, it is assumed that four cameras are installed.

  The video display unit 102 displays videos captured by four cameras in windows 301, 302, 303, and 304. Here, the video is converted in accordance with the window size so that the entire video is displayed. The window 305 displays the shooting directions of the four cameras. Further, in another display mode, only the video of the camera in which the shooting target is shot from the front among the four cameras is enlarged and displayed on the entire screen 300.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing projection from the coordinates on the camera image to the three-dimensional world coordinate system.

  The video analysis unit 103 obtains the above-described camera parameters of the camera 401, thereby calculating the shooting target position 404 in the three-dimensional world coordinates from the shooting target position 403 on the camera imaging plane 402. This technique is described, for example, in the book “Three-dimensional measurement (Seiji Iguchi and Kosuke Sato; Shoshodo)” (pages 91-99). Using this method, the detection of the shooting target and the 3D world coordinate projection are performed at regular intervals, and when the shooting target is continuously detected, the latest 3D world coordinate projection result and the past By referring to the three-dimensional world coordinate projection result of the detection result, it is possible to grasp the moving direction of the person. When the control camera selection unit 104 acquires the moving direction of the shooting target, the control camera selection unit 104 can select a camera capable of shooting the shooting target from the front based on the moving direction of the shooting target and the installation position of the camera.

  Next, the procedure and method by which the control camera selection unit 104 selects a camera to be controlled will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing, on the coordinate plane, the four cameras, the position of the shooting target, and the moving direction of the shooting target when the monitoring area is viewed from above in the above example.

  In this figure, the current position (40, 50) and the past position (50, 80) of the photographing object 505 are joined by a line segment L0. Further, the current position (40, 50) of the photographing target 505 and the positions of the four installed cameras (501 to 504) are joined by line segments L1 to L4, respectively. For example, assuming that the subject 505 such as a person is always facing the front, the angle (any one of θ1 to 4) between the line segment L0 and the line segments L1 to L4 is 180 degrees. In this case, the camera corresponding to the line segment can be identified as a camera that can photograph the front of the photographing target. In addition, it can be determined that the camera corresponding to the line segment captures the back of the imaging target as the angle between the line segment L0 and any one of the line segments L1 to L4 approaches 0 degrees. The control camera selection unit 104 selects one camera that can shoot the front of the shooting target in this way.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing only the imaging target 505 and the camera 503 extracted from FIG.

と表すことができる。制御カメラ選択部１０４は、（式１）を用いて、図４における線分Ｌ０と線分Ｌ１〜４とがそれぞれなす角度θ１〜４を計算し、最大の角度をなすカメラ、すなわち最も１８０度に近い角度をなすカメラを撮影対象の正面を撮影するカメラとして選択する。 As shown in this figure, a vector a obtained by subtracting the current position of the shooting target 505 from the current position of the camera 503 is a vector a, a vector obtained by subtracting the current position of the shooting target 505 from the previous position to a past position is a vector b, a vector a and a vector If the angle formed by b is θ3,

It can be expressed as. The control camera selection unit 104 calculates the angles θ1 to θ4 formed by the line segment L0 and the line segments L1 to L4 in FIG. 4 using (Equation 1), and the camera having the maximum angle, that is, the most 180 degrees. A camera having an angle close to is selected as a camera for photographing the front of the subject.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the control camera selection unit 104 selects a camera to be controlled.

  Control camera selection section 104 first selects one specific camera from a plurality of existing cameras (ST7010). The control camera selection unit 104 checks the installation position of the camera selected in ST7010 in the monitoring space, and based on the current and past positions of the imaging target notified from the video analysis unit 103, the line segment L0 and the line segment The angles formed by L1 to L4, that is, the angles formed by the camera and the current and past positions of the imaging target are calculated (ST7020).

で表され、角度θ１は、

により計算することができる。 Here, as shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the video analysis unit 103 analyzes that the imaging target 505 has moved from the position (50, 80) to the position (40, 50). At this time, assuming that the camera 501 is first selected in ST7010, the control camera selection unit 104 calculates an angle formed by the camera 501 and the current and past positions of the imaging target 505 using (Equation 1). A vector connecting the current position of the camera 501 and the shooting target 505 can be expressed as (−40, 50), and a vector connecting the current position of the shooting target 505 and the past position can be expressed as (10, 30). As a result, the cosine cos θ1 of the angle θ1 formed by the camera 501 and the current and past positions of the imaging target is

And the angle θ1 is

Can be calculated.

  When the calculation for camera 501 is completed, control camera selection section 104 checks whether the calculation is completed for all cameras (ST7030). If the above calculation has not been completed for all installed cameras, the same calculation is repeated for the remaining cameras. In the above example, since there are 502 to 504 in addition to the camera 501, the same calculation as the camera 501 is performed for the cameras 502 to 504.

  In the example shown here, the installation position of the camera 502 is (100, 100), the installation position of the camera 503 is (0, 0), and the installation position of the camera 504 is (100, 0). The angles θ2 to θ4 formed by ˜504 and the current and past positions of the photographing target are approximately 31.8 °, 159.7 °, and 111.4 °, respectively.

  When the calculation of the angle formed by all the installed cameras and the current and past positions of the shooting target is completed, the control camera selection unit 104 compares which angle is the maximum, and determines which camera has the maximum angle. It is determined (selected) as a camera to be controlled for photographing a person from the front (ST7040). In the example shown here, since θ3 is the maximum, the control camera selection unit 104 selects the camera 503 as a camera for photographing the front of the photographing target.

  The procedure and method for selecting the camera to be controlled by the control camera selection unit 104 have been described above.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the video analysis unit 103 calculates the current position and moving direction of the shooting target, and the control camera selection unit 104 notifies the current position of the shooting target notified from the video analysis unit 103. In addition, the camera is considered to be positioned in (or in the vicinity of) the moving direction of the object to be photographed by comparing the moving direction with the geometrical arrangement of the plurality of cameras. That is, a camera that is (substantially) located in the moving direction of the shooting target is specified based on the current position and moving direction vector of the shooting target and the geometrical arrangement of the plurality of cameras. Then, shooting of the shooting target is performed with emphasis on the identified camera.

  Since the camera's shooting range (shooting angle) is fixed, if the shooting target moves vertically (towards or moves away from the camera), the shooting target is tracked. However, there is a characteristic that tracking is difficult when the object to be photographed moves laterally with respect to the camera. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even when a plurality of cameras are arranged, a camera located in the moving direction of the shooting target is specified and shooting is performed using this camera, so it is easy to track the shooting target. There is a feature. In addition, since the video captured by this camera is data with a small amount of image change, the amount of data (traffic) communicated via the network 120 can be reduced.

  In the above configuration, the camera specified by the control camera selection unit 104 to be positioned in the moving direction of the shooting target is assumed to be a camera positioned in front of the shooting target (the shooting target can be shot from the front). be able to.

  It is particularly significant in the monitoring system to specify the camera to be used for shooting by estimating the front of the shooting target. That is, by applying this embodiment to a monitoring system, it is possible to focus on the face of a suspicious person considered to be the most important as monitoring data. In addition, since the front of the subject to be imaged is automatically estimated, there is no burden on the supervisor. In addition, the amount of monitoring data can be reduced by selectively using the front image that can identify the face of a suspicious person at a high resolution and the low-resolution image that is taken from other directions. can do.

  Furthermore, in order to reduce the amount of data communicated via the network 120 or the amount of data when recording monitoring data in the memory, the front camera can be used even when the number of cameras used for monitoring is minimized. By first using and monitoring, data capable of recognizing the face of a suspicious person while reducing the amount of data can be reliably recorded. In addition, as described above, by limiting the number of cameras to be used for one monitoring target among a plurality of installed cameras, cameras that are not used appear, so these cameras appear newly. It is also possible to assign to another monitoring target. That is, a plurality of monitoring targets can be monitored. In the case of limiting the number of cameras to be used, an example of a selection method for selecting which camera to use preferentially from among a plurality of cameras is shown in the second embodiment to be described later.

  In this embodiment, the case where the area where a plurality of cameras are installed is viewed from the vertical direction is described as an example, but the direction in which these cameras are captured depends on the correlation of the camera installation positions. For example, when the control camera selection unit 104 selects a camera capable of photographing the front of the photographing target that moves up and down, such as a person who goes up and down stairs, such as a person who goes up and down stairs, The camera that captures the front of the object to be imaged can be selected from the moving direction of the object to be imaged and the installation position of the camera.

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the control camera selection unit 104 and the video display unit 102 are connected, and the camera selection result of the control camera selection unit 104 is output to the video display unit 102. It doesn't matter. This makes it possible to change the screen display according to the camera selection result, for example, to enlarge only the camera image to be controlled, and it is easy for the image viewer to grasp which camera was controlled in addition to the above effects. The effect of becoming.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where the video analysis unit 103 performs a process of detecting a shooting target from a driving camera video installed as illustrated in FIG. 4 is described as an example. As shown in FIG. 8, a fixed camera 901 capable of shooting the entire view of the shooting area is installed separately from the drive cameras 501 to 504, and the video analysis unit 103 applies only to the video of the fixed camera 901. It is also possible to perform a process of detecting a shooting target, project the image to the three-dimensional world coordinates when the shooting target is detected, and output the three-dimensional world coordinates and moving direction of the shooting target obtained as a result to the control camera selection unit 104.

  In the present embodiment, the video analysis unit 103 detects the three-dimensional world coordinates of the shooting target using a camera calibration method. For example, the video analysis unit 103 detects the shooting target using a method such as an image processing technique. The method is not limited as long as it is possible to calculate the position or moving direction of the imaging target, such as calculating the position.

  In the present embodiment, the control camera selection unit 104 notifies the camera control signal generation unit 105 of information related to the camera to be controlled and the current position of the shooting target (the direction in which the camera should face), and generates the camera control signal. Although the case where the selected camera is controlled by generating a control signal for controlling each camera by the unit 105 has been described as an example, the camera control device 100 relates to the camera to be controlled and the current position of the shooting target. Information may be notified directly to each camera, and each camera may control the orientation and the like based on this information.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the monitoring system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. This monitoring system has the same basic configuration as that of the monitoring system shown in FIG. 1, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  The feature of this embodiment is that the camera control device 200 has a blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201. The blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 selects another camera that captures a portion that is a blind spot of the photographing target in addition to the camera selected by the control camera selecting unit 104 when photographing the photographing target. As a result, it is possible to photograph a moving object to be photographed without using a 360 degree blind spot (from all directions) with only a specific camera without using all of the cameras installed in the surveillance area.

  A procedure of processing in which the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 selects a camera for photographing a person will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

  The blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 checks whether or not there is a spot in the photographing target that is a blind spot where the installed camera cannot photograph (ST1110).

  FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an area that can be photographed by the camera. Here, it is assumed that the shooting target has a very small area.

  An area that can be photographed by the camera 1202 in the photographing target 1201 can be described as follows. First, a line segment L21 is drawn from the camera 1202 to the subject 1201. Next, a perpendicular line L22 perpendicular to the line segment L21 and passing through the object 1201 is drawn. Then, the region of the range R21 on the camera 1202 side among the regions of the photographing target 1201 divided by the perpendicular L22 can be described as a region that can be photographed by the camera 1202. This area that can be photographed is called a visible area, and the area that cannot be photographed by the camera 1202 on the opposite side is called a blind spot area.

により表すことができる。これにより、可視領域は、図１２(ａ)、(ｂ)に示すように、カメラ１２０２が垂線Ｌ２２の上側にある場合は、

で表される範囲と定めることができる。また、図１２(ｃ)、(ｄ)に示すように、カメラ１２０２が垂線Ｌ２２の下側にある場合は、

で表される範囲と定めることができる。ただし、（式５）および（式６）の範囲において、３６０°を越す範囲は３６０°を減じて可視領域を表現し、０°以下の範囲は３６０°を加えて可視領域を表現する。また、ここに示す例では、可視領域を始点角度〜終点角度の形式で表現する。これによれば、始点角度から終点角度までの範囲がカメラの可視領域ということになる。 When the coordinates of the object 1201 are (x ₁ , y ₁ ) and the coordinates of the camera 1202 are (x ₂ , y ₂ ), the perpendicular line L22 is

Can be represented by Thereby, as shown in FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b), when the camera 1202 is on the upper side of the perpendicular line L22,

It can be defined as a range represented by As shown in FIGS. 12C and 12D, when the camera 1202 is below the perpendicular line L22,

It can be defined as a range represented by However, in the range of (Expression 5) and (Expression 6), the range exceeding 360 ° is expressed by reducing 360 °, and the visible region is expressed by adding 360 ° in the range of 0 ° or less. In the example shown here, the visible region is expressed in the form of the start point angle to the end point angle. According to this, the range from the start point angle to the end point angle is the visible region of the camera.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the installation positions of the cameras 1401 to 1404 are (0, 100), (100, 100), (0, 0), and (100, 0), respectively, and the position of the object 1405 is (40, 100). 50), when the above visible regions for the cameras 1401 to 1404 are calculated using (Equation 5) and (Equation 6), respectively, the visible region of the camera 1401 is 38.7 ° to 218.7 °, and the camera 1402 The visible region is 309.8 ° to 129.8 °, the visible region of the camera 1413 is 141.3 ° to 321.3 °, and the visible region of the camera 1404 is 230.2 ° to 50.2 °. Here, assuming that the camera 1403 is a camera that can capture the front of the shooting target 1405, when the shooting target 1405 is shot using only the camera 1403, only the range of 141.3 ° to 321.3 ° is shot. Become.

  Next, the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 integrates all the visible areas of the selected cameras, and determines that the area that cannot be covered by the integrated visible area is a remaining blind area (ST1120). In the first loop, as described above, since only the camera 1403 has been selected, an area of 321.3 ° to 141.3 ° remains as a blind spot even if the camera 1403 alone is used for shooting. In step ST1130, the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 confirms whether or not there is a blind spot. If a blind spot remains, the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 examines a camera that can photograph the blind spot region most widely based on the calculation result of ST1120. . Specifically, among the cameras 1401, 1402, and 1404, the camera 1402 is the camera that can capture the blind spot region 321.3 ° to 141.3 ° in the widest area. Therefore, blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 selects camera 1402 (ST1150). Next, returning to ST1120, a range of 141.3 ° to 129.8 ° obtained by integrating the visible region of the camera 1402 and the visible region of the camera 1403 is set as a visible region that can be captured by the camera 1402 and the camera 1403. Then, in ST1130, it is confirmed again whether the blind spot disappears. Furthermore, since the area of 129.8 ° to 141.3 ° is still the blind spot area, the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 further selects one camera that can photograph the blind spot area in the widest area (ST1150). Since the camera 1401 is the camera that can shoot the blind spot area 129.8 ° to 141.3 ° in the widest range, the blind spot camera selection unit 201 selects the camera 1401. Then, when the visible regions of the cameras 1401, 1402, and 1403 are integrated, the entire 360 ° range becomes the visible region, so that the control camera selection unit 104 and the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 have the cameras 1401, 1402, and 1403. Is finally determined to be a camera that shoots a shooting target (ST1140).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 calculates the visible region of each camera based on the camera arrangement state and the current position of the photographing target, and sets the photographing target without the blind spot. Since a camera necessary for shooting is selected, shooting can be performed with a minimum number of cameras.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, a camera that is not shooting can be assigned to another object in the shooting area. That is, even when there are two or more shooting targets, it is possible to select a camera for shooting each shooting target by calculating the shooting range of the shooting target as in the present embodiment. As an example of a selection method, there is a method of calculating a shooting range of each shooting target for all combinations of cameras shooting the shooting targets and selecting a combination of cameras having the smallest blind spot area. In addition, when there are a plurality of combinations in which the blind spot area is zero, as shown in the first embodiment, it is possible to use a method of selecting a combination including a camera located in front of the imaging target.

  In the above configuration, in calculating the visible region, the calculation is started from the camera selected by the control camera selection unit 104 that is assumed to be located in front of the imaging target. Therefore, the blind spot region of the imaging target is effectively eliminated. And the amount of calculation can be reduced. In addition, the camera selected by the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 next to the camera selected by the control camera selection unit 104 is assumed to be located behind the photographing target (the back of the photographing target can be photographed). Since it is a camera, the amount of data communicated via the network 120 or the amount of data recorded in the memory can be reduced. This is because the video images taken from the front and back have a small amount of image change.

  In this embodiment, the camera is selected so that the object can be photographed without a 360 ° blind spot. However, the number of cameras to be selected is limited in advance, and a certain number of cameras may not be used. Absent. In this case, the supervisor designates the maximum number of cameras that can be selected in advance, and the blind spot photographing camera selection unit 201 selects a camera that can minimize the blind spot area with the maximum number of cameras.

  In the present embodiment, the visible / blind area of the camera is determined by assuming that the object to be imaged has a very small area, but this is not necessarily a point. For example, assuming a circle as shown in FIG. 14, the range R25 when the tangent lines L25 and L26 are drawn with respect to the circle of the camera 1501 and the imaging target 1502 is defined as the visible region, and the visible region / blind spot region is defined as described above. It is possible to calculate.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, when the imaging region is viewed from the vertical direction, the imaging target is captured so that there is no blind spot. However, the imaging location is not necessarily limited, and the camera installation position is not limited. Depending on the situation, it may be possible to perform photographing without blind spots by viewing the photographing region from the horizontal direction or the oblique direction.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the monitoring system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. This monitoring system has a part of the same configuration as that of the monitoring system shown in FIG. 1, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  A feature of the camera control device according to the present embodiment is that the camera control device is mounted on the camera itself, and the camera itself tracks the shooting target by exchanging position information of the shooting target between the cameras. Is to judge.

  The monitoring system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of cameras 1600 (1600-1 to 1600-n) and a video receiver 1610. The camera 1600-1 includes a video analysis unit 103-1, a control camera selection unit 104-1, a camera control signal generation unit 105-1, a camera control signal transmission unit 106-1, a video capture unit 1601-1, a video. A transmission unit 1602-1, a camera control unit 1606-1, and a camera control signal reception unit 1608-1 are included. The cameras 1600-2 to 1600-n also have the same configuration.

  Each unit of the camera 1600-1 performs the following operation.

  The video capturing unit 1601-1 captures the captured video from an imaging device or the like, and outputs the captured video to the video transmission unit 1602-1 and the video analysis unit 103-1. The video transmission unit 1602-1 transmits the captured video data to the video reception device 1610 via the network 120. The operations of video analysis section 103-1, control camera selection section 104-1, camera control signal generation section 105-1 and camera control signal transmission section 106-1 are the same as those in the first embodiment. The camera control unit 1606-1 controls the shooting direction of the camera 1600-1 based on the control signal generated by the camera control signal generation unit 105-1. The camera control signal transmission unit 106-1 transmits the control signal generated by the camera control signal generation unit 105-1 to another camera (1600-2 to 1600-n) via the network 120. The camera control signal receiving unit 1608-1 receives a camera control signal generated by another camera (1600-2 to 1600-n).

  The characteristic operation of the camera control apparatus according to the present embodiment is as follows. That is, when the control camera selection unit 104-1 selects the camera 1600-1 itself as a control target, the control signal generated by the camera control signal generation unit 105-1 is transmitted to the camera control unit 1606-1. The When the control camera selection unit 104-1 selects a camera other than the camera 1600-1 as a control target, the control signal generated by the camera control signal generation unit 105-1 is the camera control signal transmission unit 106. -1 to the control target camera. The transmitted control signal is received by the camera control signal receiving unit 1608-1 mounted in the camera to be controlled and output to the camera control unit 1606-1, so that the shooting direction of the camera to be controlled is changed. Be controlled.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, since the camera control device is mounted on each camera, each other can be controlled autonomously, and a control device separate from the camera is not required.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the camera control device is integrated with the camera (imaging device) to perform detection of a shooting target, video transmission, and camera control is described as an example. However, the camera control device is commercially available. It is installed separately from an imaging device such as a camera. Video data is captured from this camera via an interface such as an analog line, IEEE 1394, USB, RS-232C, etc., and a camera control signal is installed in a drive camera or camera. It may be transmitted to a pan head or the like.

  Although the present invention has been described by taking the case where it is configured by hardware as an example through Embodiments 1 to 3, it can also be realized by software.

  The camera control device according to the present invention is useful as a camera control device used in a monitoring system or the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the monitoring system according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the image | video displayed on the screen of the display which concerns on Embodiment 1. A diagram conceptually showing the projection from the coordinates on the camera image to the 3D world coordinate system The figure which shows on the coordinate plane the four cameras when the monitoring area is viewed from above, the position of the shooting target, and the moving direction of the shooting target Fig. 4 shows the subject and camera taken out from Fig. 4. The flowchart which showed the procedure in which the control camera selection part which concerns on Embodiment 1 selects the camera of control object The figure for demonstrating the variation of Embodiment 1 The figure for demonstrating the variation of Embodiment 1 The block diagram which shows the main structures of the monitoring system which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the process in which the blind spot photographing camera selection part which concerns on Embodiment 2 selects the camera which image | photographs a person Diagram for explaining the area that can be shot with the camera Diagram for explaining the area that can be shot with the camera Diagram showing an example of camera layout Illustration for explaining the case where the subject is assumed to be a circle A block diagram showing a main configuration of a monitoring system according to a third embodiment Diagram for explaining the prior art

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100, 100a Camera control apparatus 103 Image | video analysis part 104 Control camera selection part 105 Camera control signal generation part 106 Camera control signal transmission part 110-1 to 110-n Camera 200 Camera control apparatus 201 Blind spot photography camera selection part 501-504 Camera 505 Shooting target 1401 to 1404 Camera 1405 Shooting target

Claims (9)

A camera control device used in a camera system in which a shooting area is covered by a plurality of cameras,
Detecting means for detecting a current position of the shooting target in the shooting area and a moving direction of the shooting target;
A specifying means for comparing a current position and a moving direction of the shooting target with an arrangement of the plurality of cameras, and specifying a camera located in or near the moving direction of the shooting target from the plurality of cameras;
A control unit that mainly uses the camera specified by the specifying unit as a subordinate to at least a part of another camera, and causes the main and subordinate cameras to shoot the shooting target;
A camera control apparatus comprising: The control means includes
Controlling the orientation of the slave camera with the movement of the object to be photographed;
The camera control device according to claim 1. The control means includes
Notifying the slave camera of the current position of the shooting target detected by the detection means, and causing the slave camera to follow the direction of the shooting target,
The camera control device according to claim 1. The control means includes
The subject to be photographed is photographed at a high resolution by the main camera and photographed at a low resolution by the slave camera.
The camera control device according to claim 1. A calculating means for calculating a range of the shooting object to be shot by the main camera;
Selection means for selecting a camera that captures a range other than the range calculated by the calculation means as the slave camera;
The camera control device according to claim 1, further comprising: The selection means includes
As a camera that captures a range other than the range calculated by the calculation unit, the total number of cameras finally selected by selecting the camera that covers the most range other than the range calculated by the calculation unit first. suppress,
6. The camera control device according to claim 5, wherein   The camera control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the camera control device is mounted on each of the plurality of cameras.   A monitoring system comprising the camera control device according to claim 1. A camera control method used in a camera system in which a shooting area is covered by a plurality of cameras,
A camera located in or near the moving direction of the shooting target from the plurality of cameras based on the current position of the shooting target in the shooting area, the moving direction of the shooting target, and the arrangement of the plurality of cameras Identifying the main camera as the main and at least a part of the other cameras as subordinates, and causing the main and subordinate cameras to photograph the subject.
And a camera control method.

Images